Adding a Button to the Server Ribbon

This topic describes how to add a new button to the Server ribbon in Microsoft SharePoint Foundation.

Prerequisites

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Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010
SharePoint development tools in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

Creating a SharePoint Project

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To add a new button, you start by creating an empty SharePoint project.

To create a SharePoint project

1. Start Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
   
2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.
   
3. In Project Types, under Visual Basic or C#, select Empty SharePoint Project.
   
4. Type AddARibbonButton as the project name. Click OK.
   
5. In the SharePoint Customization Wizard, select Deploy as a sandboxed solution, and then click Finish.
   

Adding a new Feature

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You customize the ribbon by using a Feature. The following steps add a new Feature to your solution.

To add a new Feature

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click Features, and then click Add Feature.
   
2. Change the Title of the Feature to Custom Ribbon Button.
   
3. In Solution Explorer, right-click Feature1, and then click Rename. Type CustomRibbonButton as the new name.
   
4. In Solution Explorer, right-click the AddARibbonButton project, point to Add, and then select New Item.
   
5. In the Add New Item dialog box, select the Empty Element template. Type CustomRibbonButton as the name.
   

Defining the Custom Action

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You define the ribbon button by using ribbon XML in a custom action. For an in-depth explanation of the ribbon XML, see Server Ribbon XML.

To define the custom action

1. Open the Elements.xml file.
   
2. Paste the following XML into the Elements.xml file. This XML adds a new button on the Library tab in the Share & Track group for a document library.
   

   Important
   You must replace the Image32by32 and Image16by16 attributes with valid image URLs.

   XML

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <Elements xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/">
     <CustomAction 
       Id="Ribbon.Library.Actions.AddAButton"
       Location="CommandUI.Ribbon"
       RegistrationId="101"
       RegistrationType="List"
       Title="Add a Ribbon Button">
       <CommandUIExtension>
         <CommandUIDefinitions>
           <CommandUIDefinition
             Location="Ribbon.Library.Share.Controls._children">
             <Button Id="Ribbon.Library.Share.NewRibbonButton"
               Command="NewRibbonButtonCommand"
               Image16by16="Insert an image URL here."
               Image32by32="Insert an image URL here."
               LabelText="Hello World"
               TemplateAlias="o2" />
           </CommandUIDefinition>
         </CommandUIDefinitions>
         <CommandUIHandlers>
           <CommandUIHandler 
             Command="NewRibbonButtonCommand"
             CommandAction="javascript:alert('Hello, world');" />
         </CommandUIHandlers>
       </CommandUIExtension>
     </CustomAction>
   </Elements>
   
   

Deploying the Customization

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Because the project was set up as a sandboxed solution, it is deployed to the Solution Gallery.

To deploy the customization

1. Press F5. The SharePoint development tools in Visual Studio 2010 automatically build and deploy the Feature.
   
2. Navigate to a document library in your site or subsite.
   
3. Click the Library tab, look in the Share & Track group, and click the Hello World button.